Study: Marriage equality could lead to $100-$126 million in economic growth

A new study has indicated that legalizing same-sex marriage in Ohio could lead to big economic growth in the state. The study — conducted by Bill LaFayette, founder of Regionomics, LLC — found that Ohio’s gross domestic product (GDP), which measures economic worth, would go up by $100-$126 million within three years of same-sex marriage legalization.The study also found that the state would sustain 740 to 930 jobs within the first year of legalization, 250 to 310 jobs within the second year and 170 to 210 jobs within the third year.In Hamilton County, legalizing same-sex marriage would produce $8.2 million in growth, according to the study. The study found its numbers by looking at the amount of same-sex couples in Ohio and seeing how many would marry, which would lead to using paid marriage services. The study found that there are 19,685 same-sex couples in Ohio, and 9,863 of those couples would marry within three years. In Hamilton County, there are 1,798 same-sex couples, and 899 would marry within three years.However, since the study only looked at same-sex couples within the state, it did not account for what has been dubbed "marriage tourism." It is possible that same-sex couples from adjacent states could come to Ohio to get married, and that would lead to even more economic growth in the state.The study is being used by Freedom to Marry Ohio, a pro-same-sex marriage organization, to push the Freedom to Marry and Religious Freedom Amendment in Ohio. The amendment, if put on a ballot and approved by voters, would legalize same-sex marriage, as well as give religious institutions the ability to refuse any marriages.Dennis Willard, spokesperson for Freedom to Marry Ohio, says the organization’s goal is to have the amendment on the ballot “as soon as November 2013.” However, Willard says the organization would not stop promoting same-sex marriage until the ballot initiative passed and it intends to “educate the public” on why same-sex marriage would be beneficial to Ohio.Willard says LaFayette’s study is part of that education, which the organization will use to build support for same-sex marriage.“From an economic perspective, it (same-sex marriage) just makes sense,” he says. Willard hopes Ohioans can come to understand that as well.Last week, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made the economic argument for same-sex marriage when he announced it had produced $259 million in economic growth for his city in just one year.An interactive Ohio map showing the results of LaFayette's study is available here.

Mayor Mark Mallory announced a trade deal between the small Greater Cincinnati-based Solutions Plus, Inc. and the giant Saudi Arabia-based Diversified Lines Petroleum Company. The deal will produce $20 million in business in the next two to five years, said Solutions Plus President Charlie Weaver. The deal is largely due to a trade mission to Saudi Arabia Mallory led in January.The Cincinnati streetcar project is moving forward. On Wednesday, City Council will be voting on a routine ordinance to transfer $3 million to the streetcar project.Cincinnati is studying the feasibility of a bike share program. If enacted, the program would begin next summer in Over-the-Rhine and Uptown.Kings Island is taking down the Son of Beast. The attraction, which was originally advertised as the only wooden roller coaster with a loop, has been closed since 2009 due to a series of problems.Gov. John Kasich announced the approval of 25 new economic projects by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority. The approval should pave the way to 2,003 new jobs and $212 million in investment in Ohio, according to the announcement. Three of the projects will be in the city of Cincinnati: Integra LifeSciences Corporation, Southern Air Incorporated and Corbus, LLC.Kasich wants answers. Yesterday, the governor gave his opinion on the ongoing investigation into the Ohio Department of Education and Ohio schools for fraudulent data reporting. Kasich said both schools and the Ohio Department of Education should be held accountable if necessary.Democrats are setting the groundwork to endorse same-sex marriage in the official party platform for the 2012 election. The news would echo President Barack Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage earlier this year.Medical marijuana is heading to court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will be hearing whether or not the federal government is right to classify marijuana as having no medical value.James Holmes was charged with 24 counts of murder in the case for the Colorado theater massacre.Mitt Romney praised Israel’s health-care system, which does a lot of what he’s opposing in Obamacare.Japanese developers have built a real-life mech robot. The robot can be piloted, and it can shoot 6,000 BBs in a minute.

Agency authorized 36 permits in June, up from 20 in May

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) is not being slowed down by critics of hydraulic fracturing. ODNR in June authorized 36 new permits for horizontal drilling wells used for the process also known as fracking, a record for ODNR, according to Friday's Hannah Report.Carroll County was at the top of obtaining new permits with 11 total. Columbiana County followed with seven new permits, and Harrison County was third with nine. Chesapeake Energy Corporation obtained most of those permits, a total of 22.CityBeat spoke with Carroll County Commissioner Jeffrey Ohler, a Republican, in June about the impact of fracking on his county. Ohler was generally skeptical of how many domestic jobs fracking had created in the county, and he said he was cautious about the long-term economic impact the influx of fracking activity could have in the area.Critics claim fracking is too dangerous and its risks are too unclear. In a June 17 rally, environmentalist group Don’t Frack Ohio took over the Columbus statehouse asking state officials to put a stop to fracking. More than 1,000 attended the rally, according to the organization.But some state officials, including Gov. John Kasich, say the process can be safe with regulations in place. In June, Kasich signed into law S.B. 315, which added new rules and regulations to the fracking process. Following that, Kasich signed an executive order on July 12 that strengthened state regulators with the ability to stop and impose new requirements on wastewater injection wells deemed risky or dangerous.The wastewater injection wells were the most likely cause of recent earthquakes in Youngstown, Ohio around New Year’s Eve. In response, Kasich placed a moratorium on deep wastewater injection wells in the area.Fracking is a process in which millions of gallons of water are pumped underground to release oil and gas from rock formations. The water is then recycled and deposited in underground facilities known as wastewater injection wells.

Convicted murderer to be first execution since moratorium lifted

Gov. John Kasich today
denied a request for executive clemency from Mark Wayne Wiles, who
was convicted in 1986 of the murder of 15-year-old Mark Klima in the
northeast Ohio township of Rootstown.
Wiles is scheduled to
be executed April 18 at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in
Lucasville. According to the clemency report, members of the Ohio
Parole Board on March 2 interviewed Wiles via video-conference from
the Chillicothe Correctional Institution, after which arguments in
support of and in opposition to clemency were presented. The board
voted 8-0 against recommending clemency.
Ohio was subjected to a
moratorium on executions from November of 2011 until April 4, 2012,
when U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost of Newark lifted the
moratorium he invoked for the state’s inability to follow its own execution
protocol. The moratorium was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court
in February.
CityBeat reported here
that despite lifting the moratorium, Frost expressed frustration with
the state’s problems carrying out executions, despite the errors
being largely minor paperwork technicalities, including “not
properly documenting that an inmate’s medical files were reviewed
and switching the official whose job it was to announce the start and
finish times of the lethal injection.”
From CityBeat’s
Politics/Issues blog April 6:
Since the
moratorium, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction has
allegedly scrutinized its procedural policies and implemented a new
"Incident Command System," which sounds like an initiative
for ORDC Director Gary Mohr to more closely micromanage the processes
during state executions. "This court is therefore
willing to trust Ohio just enough to permit the scheduled execution,"
Frost wrote regarding his rejection of Wiles' stay of execution. "The
court reaches this conclusion with some trepidation given Ohio's
history of telling this court what (they) think they need to say in
order to conduct executions and then not following through on
promised reforms."
To date, Ohio has executed 386 convicted murderers. Click here for a schedule of upcoming executions in Ohio and here for recent clemency reports.

Ohio can now resume carrying out
executions for the first time since November 2011, after a ruling last
week from U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost of Newark. In January, Frost halted the Ohio
execution of condemned murderer Charles Lorraine in light of several
slip-ups by the state in following its own execution protocol.